Deuteronomy Chapter 7 in Simple English

Read Deuteronomy Chapter 7

1The LORD your God will bring you into the land you are going in to take. He will drive out many nations before you: the Hittites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and stronger than you.

2And when the LORD your God hands them over to you, you must strike them down and destroy them completely. Make no covenant with them, and show them no mercy.

3Do not marry into them. Do not give your daughter to his son, and do not take his daughter for your son.

4For they will turn your son away from following me, so that he serves other gods. Then the anger of the LORD will burn against you, and he will destroy you suddenly.

5This is what you must do to them: tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, cut down their groves, and burn their carved images with fire.

6For you are a holy people to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be his own special people, out of all the peoples on the face of the earth.

7The LORD did not set his love on you and choose you because you were more in number than other peoples, for you were the smallest of all peoples.

8But it was because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath he swore to your fathers. So the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and set you free from the house of slaves, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

9So know that the LORD your God is God. He is the faithful God. He keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love him and keep his commandments.

10But those who hate him he repays to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slow with the one who hates him; he will repay him to his face.

11So you must keep the commandments, the rules, and the judgments which I command you today, and do them.

12If you listen to these judgments, and keep them and do them, then the LORD your God will keep for you the covenant and the mercy which he swore to your fathers.

13He will love you, bless you, and make you many. He will bless the fruit of your body and the fruit of your ground: your corn, your wine, and your oil, the young of your cattle and the flocks of your sheep, in the land he swore to your fathers to give you.

14You will be blessed above all peoples. No male or female among you will be childless, and none among your cattle.

15The LORD will take away from you all sickness. He will not put on you any of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you know about. He will lay them on all those who hate you.

16You will destroy all the peoples which the LORD your God hands over to you. Your eye must not pity them. And do not serve their gods, for that will be a trap to you.

17You may say in your heart, "These nations are more than I am. How can I drive them out?"

18Do not be afraid of them. Remember well what the LORD your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt:

19the great trials your eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which the LORD your God brought you out. The LORD your God will do the same to all the peoples you are afraid of.

20More than that, the LORD your God will send the hornet among them, until those who are left and who hide themselves from you are destroyed.

21Do not be terrified by them, for the LORD your God is among you, a mighty and terrible God.

22The LORD your God will drive out those nations before you little by little. You may not finish them off all at once, or the wild animals would grow too many for you.

23But the LORD your God will hand them over to you. He will throw them into great confusion and ruin, until they are destroyed.

24He will give their kings into your hand, and you will wipe out their name from under heaven. No one will be able to stand before you, until you have destroyed them.

25You must burn the carved images of their gods with fire. Do not want the silver or gold that is on them, and do not take it for yourself, or you will be trapped by it. For it is disgusting to the LORD your God.

26Do not bring a disgusting thing into your house, or you will be set apart for destruction like it. You must hate it completely and turn from it completely, for it is a thing set apart for destruction.

Explanation

Deuteronomy 7

In short

Moses tells Israel that when they enter Canaan, they must completely destroy the seven nations living there, avoid intermarriage and treaties with them, and demolish their places of worship. God chose Israel not because they were numerous or strong, but from love and faithfulness, and obedience will bring them prosperity while disobedience will bring God's judgment.

Context

This chapter is part of Moses' speech to Israel before they cross into Canaan. Moses has already reminded them of the covenant God made with their ancestors and called them to obedience. Now he addresses the practical reality they will face: the land is occupied by established peoples, and Israel must deal with them decisively.

What the text says

Verses 1 and 2 set the situation: God will give Israel victory over seven named nations, and Israel must "utterly destroy them" and never make treaties or show mercy to them. Verse 3 forbids intermarriage with these peoples. The reason follows in verse 4: intermarriage will lead Israel's children away from God to serve other gods, which will trigger God's anger and destruction.

Verses 5 through 6 command the destruction of pagan religious objects, grounding this command in Israel's status: they are "an holy people" chosen by God above all other nations. Verses 7 and 8 explain why God chose them: not because they were numerous (they were "the fewest of all people"), but because God loved them and kept an oath to their ancestors, redeeming them from Egypt.

Verses 9 and 10 describe God's character: God keeps covenant and shows mercy to those who love and obey him, and repays those who hate him. Verse 11 connects this to Israel's obligation: they must keep the laws Moses is giving them. Verses 12 and 13 promise that obedience will secure God's covenant blessings, including love, multiplication, and fruitful land. Verses 14 and 15 extend these promises to health and freedom from disease.

Verses 16 through 24 address Israel's potential fear of the peoples they must face. Verses 17 and 18 anticipate the question, "These nations are more than I: how can I dispossess them?" Moses tells them not to be afraid, but to remember what God did to Pharaoh and Egypt. Verses 19 and 20 promise God will act similarly against these nations, even sending a "hornet" to help drive them out. Verses 22 through 24 clarify that the conquest will happen "by little and little" rather than all at once, to prevent the land from becoming desolate. God will deliver the nations and their kings into Israel's hand.

Verses 25 and 26 forbid taking precious metals from pagan idols, calling this a "snare," and command Israel to detest and utterly abhor anything connected to pagan worship.

Takeaways

God's choice of Israel rested on his own love and faithfulness, not on Israel's strength or size.
Complete separation from pagan worship and peoples was Israel's obligation, grounded in their identity as God's chosen and holy nation.
God promised to defeat Israel's enemies through his own power, even when the task seemed impossible.

Deuteronomy 7 - Simple English